For the past hour, Gretta and Rowan had been digging and occasionally hiding under bushes while an airplane wove a pattern overhead.

Now, Gretta, Sofia, and Rowan huddled in a cave entrance that had once been a coyote den, reeking of dung and urine. While the den portion was not big enough for even one human, the cave opened up into a space more than large enough for everybody.

Rowan gestured to the ground outside the den entrance and said, “Rescarnis.” He pulled magic through himself and directed it at the sand and dirt outside. In moments, the footprints faded, and the ground looked much the same as it had before.

“Why waste the energy on a spell?” Gretta asked.

“That plane was flying a search pattern,” Rowan said.

“Sure, but they can’t see footprints,” she said.

Rowan shrugged. “I’m more worried about them sending dogs—they’ll pick up our scent.”

“And you think that spell works on smells? You should’ve used it on the scat!” Gretta said, pointing at the pile.

“I don’t know, but either way, I don’t think this place smelled any better yesterday.”

“It does help with smells,” Sofia said. “I’ve never tried it on a smell this bad, though.” She pointed her hand at the scat and said, “Rescarnis.”

Nothing happened, leaving them to wonder if Sofia lacked the strength or if the spell didn’t work.

Gretta used her phone’s flashlight to guide them deeper into the cave. The cave walls came together above her as if they had been part of a jagged tear in the earth. The ground beneath her feet was uneven, a mix of loose stones and packed dirt brought in by erosion. She could feel a cool draft from deeper in the cave, and while the smell was musty, she’d take it over the smell of urine.

She scanned around until she spotted a place without sharp rocks and smoothed it over. “You can rest here, Sofia. I’ll hold the light for a bit so you can get familiar with it, but I need to save battery, so I can’t keep it on the whole time.”

Sofia sat down on the cleared spot. “I’m thirsty.”

Gretta knelt next to Sofia. “I can make some water, but it’d help if we had a cup or bowl. Unfortunately, I don’t have one, so I might have to create the water in your hands.”

Sofia removed her small backpack. “I have a bottle," she said, pulling out an empty water bottle and handing it to Gretta.

Gretta held it up, concentrated with her remaining energy, and said, “Nalqesh.”

The water bottle filled slowly, and all three watched in quiet amazement. They had all seen magic, but tired and thirsty, watching magic pull water from the air was satisfying. Gretta handed Sofia the bottle when it was full of water.

“Do you think you can share?” Sofia said. “I don’t have a bottle of my own, and I doubt I have the strength to do that spell again without some rest.”

Sofia took a long drink and then handed the bottle back to Gretta. “Sure, but what about using Tenebryn?”

Gretta took a drink from the bottle and handed it to Rowan. He drank deeply before returning it to Sofia, who tucked the empty bottle into her backpack.

“What is Tenebryn?” Gretta asked.

“It’s the other word my mom taught me for emergencies,” Sofia said. “It makes your hiding place hard to find.”

Gretta looked to Rowan, who shook his head.

“I think we’re all too tired to use that right now,” Gretta said. “If we hear somebody coming, we can try.”

“Sleep while you can. I’ll watch the entrance for now, and when I think I’m too tired to watch, I’ll wake you,” Rowan said.

“What about spiders?” Sofia asked.

“I didn’t spot any crawlies,” Gretta said. “If it helps, I can sleep next to you.”

“Yes, please,” Sofia said.

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Gretta laid down next to Sofia, and they both used Sofia’s little backpack as a pillow. Gretta turned off the light from her phone, and they were plunged into darkness. The light coming from the den was nearly completely blocked by Rowan as he sat in the small cave entrance watching.

Rowan struggled to stay awake, his head dipping as sleep threatened to overtake him. Sofia and Gretta’s soft breathing only deepened his exhaustion. The ground was already uncomfortable, but he started stretching every few minutes to help with blood flow and then adjusting rocks for maximum sitting discomfort.

The sound of voices sent a holt through him. He didn’t have a watch or phone, so he could only guess at the passing time. He could still see light outside the den, so he knew the afternoon sun was still beating down on the desert.

He tapped Gretta’s foot. She stirred, shifting carefully to avoid waking Sofia. Then she stopped moving and breathing as she listened to the voices.

“Tenebryn,” Gretta said.

Rowan felt the magic from her sweep by, and the darkness wrapped them in a sensation that he could only describe as comforting. Sofia’s breathing slowed, and it sounded like she had fallen into an even deeper sleep.

Gretta crawled over to Rowan and peered into the coyote den, which served as the foyer of their temporary home. They watched and listened. As the sounds of sniffing and panting approached, Rowan and Gretta scooted further into the darkness. There was no room in the small cave to deal with an angry dog.

“Old coyote den,” a woman’s voice said. “It stinks, but I don’t think you’d fit people in it. Let’s keep moving.”

“Hold on,” a man said. “The dogs are onto something.”

“Look, Glenn,” the woman said. “The dogs are smelling coyote. People wouldn’t fit in there.”

The entrance to the den became obscured by a face, and both Rowand and Gretta froze. The man shined a flashlight into the den, pointing out piles of scat and bits of fur. He seemed to look everywhere in the small den except at the cave entrance in front of him. His eyes never looked toward them despite virtually nowhere else to look.

“You’re right,” Glenn said. “Just a den. We can move on. The piles of branches out here were suspicious, though, you gotta admit.”

“Maybe they rested here for a bit,” the woman suggested.

The sounds of the two people and the dog faded, but as so little sound traveled through the den to Rowan and Gretta, they kept holding their breath, wondering if they were truly gone. Gretta eventually had to release the spell she was holding or risk needing to lay back down.

“I’ll take a turn watching for a bit,” Gretta whispered. “You look like you might pass out.”

Rowan didn’t argue. After the adrenaline of the moment had passed, he was so tired that he would fall asleep whether he wanted to or not. He pulled further back from the entrance, curled up with an arm under his head, and fell asleep the moment after he closed his eyes.

Gretta was still tired. The nap had taken the edge off her fatigue, but the hiding spell had nearly drained her back to nothing. If Rowan hadn’t looked like he would pass out at any moment, she would have lain back down, but he had looked like he had moments before exhaustion, so she decided she needed to take a watch.

She focused on directing a slow trickle of healing magic toward her tiger form. Her ace in the hole had always been the ability to shift into a tiger, and her inability to rely on it now worried her. She could still shift into an elephant, and while that was comforting, there were far fewer cases when an elephant was more beneficial than being a tiger.

When the light outside started fading, Gretta shook Rowan awake.

“We should move. It’ll get cold, and we should try to go someplace with an actual bed and get some rest,” she said.

Rowan nodded and crawled out of the cave first, checking for any signs of danger. Not that he expected any, but he thought a little caution was warranted.

When Sofia and Gretta emerged, Rowan cast the Rescarnis spell to clean all three of them. Though the spell removed the worst of the sweat and dust, their clothes remained torn and threadbare, bearing the marks of their journey. It didn’t heal their exhaustion or injuries, but it provided relief from the grime and smell.

“That was a frivolous use of magic,” Gretta said.

“I think it was good. You both smelled bad, but now you aren’t that smelly,” Sofia said.

“I was thinking the same thing.” Rowan smiled and ruffled Sofia’s hair. “We have two problems that are stopping us from sleeping in a bed tonight.”

Gretta looked skeptical. “We have no money, and hotels need ID.”

“Okay, at least two,” Rowan said. “We’re in the middle of nowhere with no car, and we’re being hunted by law enforcement and an uber-powerful sorceress who will watch every road out of here.”

“Can you turn into a horse?” Sofia asked. She sounded a little too hopeful.

“Unfortunately, I can’t,” Gretta said. “I could carry you in elephant form, but I’d stand out.” She turned to Rowan. “Maybe Rowan can turn into a horse?”

“Sorry, that’s not in my bag of tricks,” he said. “I think we’ll need to head back toward Tucson on foot.”

“Back to Tucson?” Gretta asked. “Is that where Gabriela will be?”

“That’s where she was, but she’ll expect us to keep working toward California or maybe cut south to Mexico. She might even watch Phoenix, but doubling back toward Tucson and heading toward New Mexico may give us time to rest and regain our strength.”

“We aren’t going to get far without a car,” Gretta said.

Rowan shrugged. “There were trucks back at the mine. We can 'borrow' one.”

Gretta put her hands on her hips. “Your brilliant plan is to double back toward the people chasing us?”

Rowan smiled. “They won’t suspect it.”

Gretta pinched the bridge of her nose. “I expected more from you.”

Rowan hesitated, his smile shifting into a sheepish grin. There was a glint in his eye. “But?”

“But I don’t have a better plan,” she admitted. “Let’s go.”